Don't kill your wife with electricity..

[stevehertz]

I came across this ad. Makes you wonder if they meant or even understood the implications of the second sentence? ie let electricity 'do the work' or, 'kill your wife' !

[Andrew2]

Ha! That reminds me of the American radio ad that went 'We won't ruin your laundry with machines, we do it all by hand!' I think it was Kenny Everett who unearthed that one.

[Nuvistor]

It is so easy to write something with more than one meaning, the person writing it probably doesn't notice until it's pointed out.
I try and read things through before posting but know I make many mistakes, my English language teacher 60 yeas ago said " this is not your best subject ", I am not sure which subject is.
Anyway Steve, your post brightened my Saturday morning, thank you.
Frank

[julie_m]

Or a piece of advice in my old university student handbook: "If you think you have a problem, you should see your personal tutor" !

[ukcol]

Here is another interpretation of the ambiguity in the title.

Don't kill your wife with electricity, use our new fool proof method.

[Radio Wrangler]

Originally Posted by Nuvistor

, my English language teacher 60 yeas ago said " this is not your best subject ",
Frank

Back in the late sixties, our english language teacher said, while feeling rather frustrated:

"Every time I open my mouth, some damn fool speaks!"

He laughed as much as we did. He was a good guy and it was a good illustration of how easy it is. Unforgettable!

David

[Dave Moll]

Many years ago that poster appeared briefly in a television programme about electricity, though it only did so diagonally across the screen with the corners chopped off.

I captured it off-screen at the time and it has sat on my office wall ever since.

[TonyDuell]

One which I saw, on a long-gone building near Upton Park :

'Don't let laundry kill your wife. Let us do it'

[Junk Box Nick]

The apostrophe in 'Dont' is missing.

Disgraceful.

[ms660]

You couldn't get the staff in those days

Lawrence.

[stevehertz]

Originally Posted by Junk Box Nick

The apostrophe in 'Dont' is missing.

Indeed. I always find it incongruous that grammatical mistakes were quite common in adverts in those days, yet I'd bet a pound to a penny that the average person wrote better English than we do today. Curious.

[Maarten]

Fluke: "If it works, it's a Fluke"
Competitor: "Ours work by design!"

[Herald1360]

Have to admit I double checked Salusbury Road. It does exist. It's in an area of placename roads- I wonder if it's a council or developer misprint?

Edit:

Apparently it's the name of a prominent Anglo Welsh family favoured at court at some point.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salusbury_family

[dseymo1]

Originally Posted by stevehertz

Indeed. I always find it incongruous that grammatical mistakes were quite common in adverts in those days, yet I'd bet a pound to a penny that the average person wrote better English than we do today. Curious.

I've always suspected that it's a deliberate stylistic thing, but I might well be wrong.

I feel the apostrophe is a thing you can or not use, but not used in the wrong place. Context sorts it out in the end. When at infants school (still remember dancing on the grass to a radio shoved out of the window, 1966 I think) I found the apostrophe was used to indicate missing letters, great I thought, just right for the words I can't (there goes one) spell. Teach. put me right but admired my logic.

[Scimitar]

As a general rule, if in doubt, leave it out!
An apostrophe is typically used to show possession or contraction, not plurals.

[Station X]

No more discussion about apostrophes please. Such discussions have become very unpleasant in the past.

[ricksteptoe]

Indeed Salusbury Road exists, I have been to the Electricity Board offices there many times as a child with my mum, to pay the electric bill. We used to live in Kensal Rise, a short bus ride away. I remember being fascinated by the long case master clock in the main corridor, and enjoyed looking round the showroom at all the exotic modern kitchen appliances.

Rick.